


My Secret Son is Adorable and I Might Want To Court His Father?

by CardboarianNights



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: A/B/O, Alpha!Gabriel, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cat hybrid!Gabe, Gabe never joins the military, Human!Jack, Implied Mpreg, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Omega!Jack, Secret Baby, Strangers to Lovers, animal human hybrids, basically one party forgot they consented due to a head injury making them forget, cat hybrid au, dubious consent situation is presented but resolved quickly, evidence is not fabricated, evidence is provided to back up the claim that it was entirely consentual, he's not a super soldier either, i'll spoil that now than later, most cat ears and tails asthetics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2018-04-27
Packaged: 2018-12-03 11:53:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,633
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11531682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CardboarianNights/pseuds/CardboarianNights
Summary: Gabriel Reyes just happen to be a cat hybrid at a bar in LA that managed to have a fun night drinking with Overwatch's strike commander, Jack Morrison.Almost a year later, Gabriel is flown out to the Overwatch HQ and is confronted with the surprising fact that he had a son he didn't know about. Jack Morrison isn't too happy about his one night stand finding out about this but it looks like Gabriel is there to stay since it's safer to keep a walking-ransom-waiting-to-happen like Gabriel near then let Overwatch's enemies take him hostage.Will the two bond over their newborn son or will Jack continue to keep Gabriel at arms' length as a stranger?





	1. here kitty kitty

**Author's Note:**

> Note that the supposive dubcon conversation does not happen until chapter two so you're safe to enjoy this adorable baby drama!

Gabriel Reyes was just a guy who had a drink with the Strike Commander maybe a year back and yet here was, sitting in a chair against the wall while the man’s secretary typed away at his terminal. Round, black panther ears hidden away under his beanie, even though it looked super out of place with the red button business shirt and black tie he had on along with dress slacks and freshly shined shoes. His long, black tail was wrapped around his leg and hidden under his pants since felidae, cat-human hybrids, always attracted the wrong kind of attention if they went out with their ears and tails on display.

He shifted anxiously in his chair, wondering why he was invited out for the week by Ana Amari, Jack Morrison’s second-in-command, especially since he lived half a world away in LA. It couldn't have been cheap to fly him out here for nothing and his family insisted he go see the Zurich facility after he checked out Amari’s credentials with Overwatch’s HR department. She was rather vague with why she was inviting him over but it didn't seem all that bad when he talked with her over the phone a few times. He wasn't in trouble or anything, he knew that much.

“Hello there.” 

Gabriel turned his head and saw Ana Amari approaching him as the elevator closed behind her. She was as pretty as the pictures showed her to be online; Her black hair a silky shine, eyes ever so mischievous but holding a warmth in them that put Gabriel at ease as he watched her approach, an infant cooing softly against her shoulder and wrapped in a warm, gold blanket. Gabe got up from his chair and smiled sheepishly at her. “Hello, Captain Amari. It’s nice to finally meet you.” He extended a hand to her, and she offered her free one, the one not holding the baby, to shake it before returning it to the infant’s back.

“It’s nice to meet you in person too, Mr. Reyes.” She smiled fondly, making Gabriel nervously shift in place under her warm gaze. He rubbed the back of his neck as he tried to make his tongue actually say something rather than looking like a star-struck moron in front of her.

“I… Your kid is awfully cute!” He offered to try to break the awkward pause between them. “I didn't know you had a second one.”

Captain Amari smiled sweetly at that as she turned her gaze to the little one with a blue baby cap on its head when he gestured to them with his hand. There was something beautiful about seeing a parent with a child that made Gabriel smile - he certainly wanted a family some day, even with the risk that came with having a felidae child. The rarity of hybrids with any type of cat traits made felidae children prime kidnapping targets for sex trafficking. It was one of the main reasons he never got around to settling down with anyone, just casually dating on and off when someone offer to buy him a drink at the office.

“Thank you, but I am only watching this little one right now.” Captain Amari spoke as she closed the gap between them in a few graceful steps. “Would you mind holding him for me for a moment?” She asked as she looked up to regard Gabriel with a smile.

He smiled in return and nodded his head as he reached out with his hands towards her. “Certainly. It will be like holding my baby nephew again.”

She chuckled sweetly, making Gabriel feel his cheeks warm up from how pleasant she was to be around. It was like being around his older sister when they had a family reunion last Christmas and the two of them just knowing what the other will do before the other did it. That’s the kind of feeling he got around Captain Amari, especially this one that was gently passing the infant to him. 

His eyes went from the captain to the little burrito’d sweetheart that was now resting their head against his shoulder. The baby was so tiny, couldn’t have been more than a few weeks old! Light brown skin, a cute little nose that let out snorts before Gabriel readjusted the child so it could breath a bit more easier and the teeniest of little hands that just barely peeked out of the blanket swaddled around them. Gabriel was positively melting at how cute this baby was, completely unaware of his surroundings as he felt himself rock slowly back and forth on his heels.

“Aww.” Captain Amari cooed as she slipped her phone back into her coat pocket, probably checking an email or something since Gabriel hadn’t been paying attention to her since she passed him the baby. She was cradling the side of her face into her palm as she looked at Gabriel with overwhelming adoration and he was half tempted to ask the baby if he could use the blanket to hide himself from being one giant dork.

“Oh! Captain Amari!” The secretary looked up from his monitor to regard Overwatch’s second-in-command. “Should I let the Strike Commander know that you are here?”

The captain turned to look at the man and shook her head as she gave him a knowing smile. “I’ll just go right in, but thank you very much, Homer.”

Homer smiled before turning back to his monitor as the captain paused in front of the double door to the strike commander’s office, making a glance back towards the child that was cooing softly in Gabriel’s arms. Gabriel wasn’t sure why she was hesitating, maybe she had second thoughts about leaving a baby with a stranger? It would make sense, even if he was her guest at the Overwatch Headquarters. He certainly wouldn’t leave his child with someone he barely knew.

Just to reassure her that he wasn’t going anywhere, Gabriel sat back down in his chair from before, gently rubbing the baby back while his other keep the infant’s cradled up against him. She smiled at that before turning to face the door and swiping her ID against the card reader, the doors sliding open with the inside obscured by the angle his chair was placed at back against the wall. The doors slid shut behind her after she entered, leaving Gabriel alone with just the companionship of the infant resting against his shoulder and the secretary typing away busily at their desk.

He was pretty excited though - Gabriel was going to get to meet Jack Morrison again and this time actually know who the man really was instead of the fake name he went by before when they met. It was understandable why he did it though since he was such a huge celebrity and wanted to unwind after a mission took him to LA (at least that’s what Gabriel thought?). Gabriel found himself smiling as he remembered Jack sitting at the bar, sipping on a gin and tonic as he watched people come and go from the bar, enjoying the atmosphere more so than looking to pick up anyone. His blonde hair a bit ruffled, looking like he ran out to the bar at the last moment than actually planning to visit. His criminally mismatching outfit pretty much screamed that out to everyone as Gabriel took a seat next to him and ordered a tequila shot. 

Gabriel didn’t get much time to think back further on that as the doors to the strike commander’s office flew open, Jack Morrison, himself, scrambling out of the room in a dead panic. His eyes were blown open wide and he was missing his trademark duster, wearing only that black underarmor shirt and the gun holster straps over his chest and shoulders. The commander was borderline hysterical and probably on the verge of hyperventilating as he slammed down his hands onto his secretary’s desk.

“Homer! Where is he?!” Morrison demanded, practically terrifying his poor secretary as they recoiled away from him in fear. Homer took a very deep breath before hesitantly pointing his finger in Gabriel’s direction, Morrison snapping his head in his direction and looking positively spiteful. Morrison pushed himself off the desk and stomped over to Gabriel in a very intimidating manner before the captain stepped in between them and drove her fist right into the commander’s face. He was choking on his pain trying to resist the temptation to cry out from the hit before glaring at Ana as he held the left side of his face with his hand. “The FUCK, Ana?!” He spat.

Captain Amari defiantly crossed her arms over her chest but Gabriel couldn’t see her expression from still being on the chair behind her. “You were about to do and probably say something you were going to regret, Jack. Think of the pain as the small price you pay for not ruining your relationship right off the bat with Gabriel Reyes during your reunion.” She chided him, a man that could probably break her with his hand if the rumors of Morrison's superhuman feats against the omnics bore any truth to them. 

Gabriel was terrified for her in this moment, knowing that he stood no real chance of subduing a military guy much less a super soldier when Gabriel had a baby in his arms. Sure, he could put the child down but he wouldn’t forgive himself if something bad were to happen because of it. Still, he felt damn pathetic for not at least trying to do something more then let Morrison approach him in such a hostile manner. Does he not remember him?

“He’s holding my son, Ana!” Morrison shot back at her. “You think I would deck him one while he was holding him?!”

“You would probably do so after tearing Neil out of his biological father’s arm and we both know that wouldn’t be good for your relationship nor him and Neil’s.” Amari countered with ease, making both men balk at that reveal.

“Woah! Wait a min-”

“You did a fucking paternity test behind my back?!” Morrison practically snarled, interrupting anything Gabriel would have to say on the topic.

Gabriel might be an alpha but he certainly wasn’t going to stick his neck out when Morrison was this wound up and probably looking for an excuse to redirect at anyone other than Amari. Yeah, death by getting his heart ripped out of his chest by a super soldier didn’t seem like the best headline in the newspaper for his family to read the next morning.

“You’re fraying at the nerves, Jack, you need his biological father here to put your mind at ease.” She tried explaining to him, though it honestly just made Gabriel even more confused when she brought Gabriel back into the conversation by, again, labeling him as the kid’s biological father.

Was Jack Morrison an omega? 

If he was then things might actually be making sense right about now rather than just confusing the shit out of him even more. The guy acted like a total alpha minus the fact that his scent was practically nonexistent - maybe he had some heavy duty scent implants in him? It wouldn’t be the first time he met someone on the spectrum who didn’t want to be identified and certainly wouldn’t be the last.

Morrison was still holding the side of his face as he looked away and took a deep breath before slowly letting it out to likely cool his jets. “Ana, I appreciate you looking after Neil and I, but, you didn't have to get a total stranger involved, even if he is the father. There’s meds out there that help with what I'm experiencing and I don't need to inconvenience anyone.” He then walked around Amari as he gave Gabriel an apologetic smile, significantly calmer than he was before. “Mr. Reyes, I apologize for the uncomfortable position that my coworker has put you under by bringing you out here. It was never my intention to go looking for Neil’s father, especially since I am capable of raising him with both of my parents living in Zurich to support me and Neil.”

Gabriel frowned as he looked at the bundle snoozing against his shoulder, his hand gently making circles against Neil’s back without Gabriel even noticing that he had been doing so for a while now. He then looked at Amari as she scowled in disappointment at the back of Morrison’s head before he let his gaze settle on Jack. 

“I don't honestly remember us doing anything more than having drinks that night.” Gabriel chuckled softly as he stood up and looked down at Neil sadly before transferring him back to his father’s waiting arms.

Morrison didn't react at all until the baby was in his arms, and only then with the infant cradled against his chest, did he smile so wonderfully down at the grunting baby. Rocking back and forth lightly as Gabriel felt almost embarrassed that he witnessed such an expression of tenderness on the strike commander's face when he smiled down at his son. Gabriel had to look away and resist the urge to say how adorable the blonde looked since the man would likely snap out of that expression the moment he caught Morrison's attention.

“I see. So, it was that kind of a night between you two then that brought us such a nice blessing.” Amari remarked as she moved to Morrison’s left side, reaching down to affectionately stroke the baby on the head. Morrison tensed up as she touched the child’s head but didn't say anything, shooting her a nasty glare instead.

“Ana Amari…” Morrison warned his second-in-command with a growl while she looked at him in amusement.

“Jack, I remember you telling me about how nice of a night you had with Reyes. Yes, you were both drunk out of your minds but you didn't seem so miserable nursing your hangover, especially with that bouquet of flowers he bought you.” 

“Ana!”

Gabriel felt his face flush as he brought a hand up to rub the back of his neck. He should be skeptical of all of this. It could be an elaborate prank Amari was pulling on Morrison to get him to look for the real father, using him as an example or something. This was way too surreal to be true. He didn't remember doing anything but having drinks with him and waking up in his own bed the next day. 

“Um… Captain Amari?” Gabriel hesitantly spoke up as Morrison looked like he was on the verge of strangling her.

“Yes, Reyes?” She smiled sweetly, making Gabriel all the more wary of her and her intentions.

Gabriel brought his hand over to rub his arm as he looked back and forth between the two of them reluctantly. “Look. I get you want to help Mr. Morrison. He seems like a nice guy and certainly deserves to be happy, but, I don't think you should lie to him to get him to act.” He explained.

Amari quirked a brow at him while Morrison looked away in annoyance. She folded her arms across her chest as she regarded him in a thoughtful manner. “Oh? You believe yourself to merely be a prop here?”

Gabriel blinked at that. “Well, yes. You could probably have saved some money bringing someone closer to Zurich than LA but your money is your money, you know?”

Amari sighed at that, looking troubled as she looked over at Neil in Morrison’s arms, just napping away without a care like any child his age should. Her eyes then went over to Jack, looking at him in genuine disappointment as he continued to avoid eye contact with either of them, holding his child protectively in his arms. It made Gabriel wonder why the man was so quiet when earlier he seemed fine with being very vocal about his thoughts. 

“Jack.”

Morrison tensed up but continued to avoid eye contact with the both of them. “What?” He growled, warning her against saying something but Gabriel honestly couldn’t fathom what it could be. 

Amari narrowed her eyes at Jack in disapproval before looking over at Gabriel with a sympathetic smile. “It’s no coincidence that I had you brought here Gabriel. You genuinely are Neil’s biological father.” She then looked back down lovingly at Neil with a smile before reaching down and carefully pulling the blue baby hat off his head.

“AMARI!” Jack’s hand quickly went to cover the baby’s brown hair as he held Neil protectively against his chest, turning away from Amari as he was absolutely infuriated by her actions. Amari frowned sadly at his anger but Gabriel’s was still processing what his eyes saw for the briefest of moments before Morrison hid his son’s head away instead of their argument: Two small, black, wrinkly pieces of flesh poking out from the brown tuft of hair Neil had on his head.

Gabriel’s knees felt weak as he turned around to find the chair he was sitting on earlier and let himself occupy it once more before his legs could give out on him. His whole body felt gripped in sudden weakness as the information hit him like a truck except he wasn’t left to bleed out in the middle of a road. No, the two responsible were just arguing with each other while the baby started crying, making the situation that much more tense while the poor secretary just tried to keep his nose out of the whole thing. Gabriel was shaking as he buried his face in his hands, keeping his feelings suppressed the best he could and not make the situation any more volatile than it already was.

He knocked up the fucking figurehead of Overwatch.

Gabriel got drunk and had sex with one of the most important men in the world. Something that he couldn’t even recall happening, and no one fucking told him anything about it!

Wait… wasn’t that the point? Not the ‘getting knocked up’ part, but the whole ‘I’ll raise him by myself’ mentality Morrison had. He flat out doesn’t want Gabriel involved in their lives, and Morrison honestly had every right to live like that. Gabriel was always a very mellow alpha but just the thought that might have been the only chance to hold Neil in his arms had him very much at odds with what he wanted to resist: Forcing himself into Morrison’s life and help raise Neil, even if neither of them had any intentions of being mates or even if Morrison had one currently in private. It was extremely selfish, probably even more so than Amari bringing him out here in the first place and revealing his link to the child. What about Gabriel’s job and his family back in LA? Just drop it all and still have the door slammed in his face when he would ask to see his son everyday?

Gabriel tensed as he felt a pair of arms wrap around him so tenderly, not even noticing until he felt their chest press against his head. His head shot up and pulled his hands away from his face to see Amari down on her knees in front of him, looking at him with such concern that it made his heart ache for making her worry over him. Gabriel’s hands were wet and his nose was running from crying over this whole fucked up situation instead of getting angry like any other alpha should have.

Morrison was gently shushing his baby as Neil continued to sob in his arms. The man cooing softly as he placed comforting kisses on the little brunette’s head. It just made the pit even deeper in Gabriel’s heart and he was secretly grateful to Amari as she placed her hands on his face to pry his gaze off of Morrison. She gave him a sympathetic look that spoke amples about how much she understood he was hurting in this moment, even if she was indirectly the one who caused it.

“I want to be with him.” Gabriel sniffled hard as he shamelessly wrapped his arms around Amari and buried his face into her shoulder, trembling as she moved her hands to his back to provide him comforting rubs. “I want to be with Neil.” He repeats uselessly again, knowing that nothing would change but still wanted to put his feelings out there anyways.

Morrison went back into his office soon after his son calmed down but the door seemed to stay open a bit longer than it did the other time before it eventually slid shut. Leaving Amari and Gabriel alone with the receptionist in the hallway.


	2. Complications

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember that warning about 'dubious consent situation that gets proven to be a fully consented situation' thing I warned you guys about in the tags and in chapter one? This chapter covers the controversial nature of Gabe and Jack's night out and the debate if Neil was a product of dubious consent or not.
> 
> Words like 'rape' are not used but are implied for a moment out loud by one character that lets that thought slip. 
> 
> There is absolutely no description of any rape-like scenes or content in this fic. I spoiled in the tags that the situation was 100% consented to before/during/after they had sex. The situation is dubious because Gabe suffered a concussion (at the bar) and can't remember him and Jack leaving the bar together later due to said concussion.
> 
> The MAIN drama of this story is NOT 'was Neil a product of dub-con' and the story is going to drift away from that point very quickly to other things involving parenthood, expectations of biological parents, and how it is all complicated by a secret baby/biological parent finding out about them in an ABO setting.
> 
> There will be no more non-con/dub-con debates after this chapter so please enjoy the fic as long as you feel comfortable reading this chapter with that in mind!

Regardless of how abrasive Morrison had been initially, he was taking time off from his busy work schedule to walk about with Amari and Gabriel. With Neil in one of those frontal, strap on baby carriers, the three of them walked about the base as Amari served as the tour guide of the massive Overwatch campus. Gabriel’s eyes widened as they passed a huge glass window that showed the horticulture depart. It was a lab set up with people in white lab coats and wearing protective coverings to prevent contaminating the samples. Rows of seedlings in plastic trays in various states of growth under lamp lights while scientists and floating robots recorded results. Gabriel didn’t know he had been staring into the room for a long while until Amari cleared her throat, making Gabe’s cheek warm up as he looked at her, caught red-handed.

“I see you’re enjoy the sights of the horticulture’s laboratory, Reyes.” She smiled happily as she walked over to the window to join him. “Do you have any particular questions you wish to ask about?”

Gabriel chuckled rather sheepishly at her offer. “Yeah. What exactly are they researching in there?”

“They’re researching diseases that affect crops and genetic modifications that can make them resistant to the strains.” She informed him before pointing to the pane of glass on the other side of the door leading from the hallway into the decontamination room. “The room next to it has a team working on raising smaller, endangered flora species here while we have a building that’s dedicated to raising larger species of plants and also we have a farm where they refine planting and irrigation technologies for produce. We can go there tomorrow, if you want to see it for yourself.” Amari offered with a warm smile that lit up Gabriel’s face.

“Really? I would enjoy that! The west coast Overwatch facility has nothing on this one here!”

Amari looked at him curiously at that. “You’ve visited the American West Coast facility before?” She asked while they both noticed a buff man in a black Overwatch uniform walked over casually to Morrison, the both of them walking off a short distances away from Gabe and Amari as they chatted quietly amongst themselves.

Gabriel noted that the man didn’t salute to Morrison like everyone else in the campus, finding it strange how casual their body language seemed to be as they talked. Amari lightly tapped Gabriel on the shoulder to draw his attention back to her. 

“I’m sure Jack will be back with us in a moment, Reyes, let’s go look at the micro flora rehabilitation room, alright?” Amari spoke reassuringly to him, making it seem like this was a normal occurrence for the strike commander as they moved several feet over to the observation window. What he didn’t expect was for the buff man in black walk over and casually sling his huge, muscular arm over Gabriel’s shoulder while Amari was giving him the rundown on the floral species they were currently growing in the large green house. 

“‘Gabriel Reyes’, right?” The man grinned as Gabriel tensed up under how much alpha pheromone the guy let roll off himself. “Never thought Jackie would have the guts to contact, much less bring his baby daddy over for a tour of HQ!” He chuckled in amusement before offering Gabriel his hand. “Name’s Deacon Prawls, an old army buddy of Jack’s and an Overwatch agent!”

Gabriel chuckled nervously as he took the man’s hand and almost mechanically shook it from how stiff his whole body felt under Prawls’ presence. The only time Gabriel was ever hit by this much raw pheromone secretion was when he was at a bar and two alphas started fighting to show off to some omega that was the center of their attention. Either Prawls was in his rut, trying to intimidate Gabe, or possibly had a scent disorder that made him leak the shit all the time. It felt more like the third one since the guy genuinely seemed pleased to meet him from his tone and body language. “It’s nice to meet you, Sir.”

Prawls’ blue eyes widened at that before he let out a howl of laughter and patted Gabriel’s shoulder in a friendly manner. “You seeing this, Amari? Jackie’s taste ain’t as shit as we all thought after all!” The brunette declared as Amari hide her smile behind her hand while Jack practically stomped over to the trio with a scowl on his face. “So, when you moving in, Felidae? Gotta set up a guard rotation on you and-”

“Deacon!” Morrison hissed, his hands balled into fists by his sides. 

Prawls grinned as he stood up, maybe two inches taller than Gabriel at full height, but didn’t remove his arm from Gabriel’s shoulder while he regarded Jack with an amused smile. “What’s wrong, Jack? You don’t plan on telling him what you told me? Unlike you, I’m the one who is assigning his own men to make sure papa here stays safe and secure.” He laughed as he patted Gabriel's shoulder again, making Gabriel very nervous over the thought that Prawls’ might be the type who smiles when he is very upset.

Gabriel looked over at Amari, seeing her obvious scowl in disapproval, before looking over to Morrison as seeing him visibly baring his teeth at Prawls as his arms wrapped protectively around Niel’s back in the carrier strapped to his chest. He was glad that the hallway had a dead end and that there wasn't much foot traffic because things were getting very heated, very quickly. Gabriel absolutely felt like he was being held hostage in the other alpha’s casual hold, regardless of how easily it would be to just slip away and just let them work it out. He wasn't sure if Prawls was serious about the whole ‘moving in’ thing but he wasn't going to stick his neck out quite yet when he had no information to go on. 

“We had every intention of telling him, Deacon, but, this could have been handled in a much more delicate way rather than just demanding his cooperation.” Amari spoke up as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Prawls just huffed in annoyance at her response. “Well, unlike you two, I have a plane to catch with my team in an hour and I’d rather get the house in order than have mom here yell at me later.” He looked over at Morrison to emphasize his point while Morrison looked about ready to deck him one. “So, where is papa’s permanent home gonna be?” 

Gabriel looked over at Morrison, surprised to see the man making eye contact with him for once before his gaze quickly turned back to Prawls’. 

“Diplomat’s quarters.” Morrison answered with an annoyed sigh, further solidifying the inevitable for Gabriel as he started to panic.

“W-Wait! What about my job and my apartment?! My family just thinks I’m only going to be out here for a week!” He balked in offence as he pushed Prawls’ arm off his shoulder and took several steps back. “Besides, I might not even be Neil’s father! What if this is one giant mix up?!”

Prawls rolled his eyes as he brought a hand up to run through his short hair with an exacerbated sigh. “You want us to run another paternity test? I’m fine with that. We’ll get results within ten minutes with that one and then I can finally start making a guard rotation schedule.”

Gabriel scowled at Prawls. “You make it seem like it’s one big inconvenience for me to ask you guys to double check your facts considering how fucked I’ll be if you guys are wrong about this.”

“You’re absolutely right, Reyes.” Amari firmly spoke. “I’ll make sure to have a third party verify it so you won’t have to worry about anything deceptive happening on our part.” She reassured him, bringing some comfort to Gabriel while Morrison was more interested in the floor than looking at any of them directly. Prawls just seemed to be even more frustrated by Amari’s proposal.

“Okay, now I’ll probably be on a plane when the results turn out to be the same as the ones we ran and I’ll be even more pressed for time to get everything in order.”

“Do it when you come back, Deacon.” Morrison finally spoke up as he pried his eyes off the floor and looked at Prawls. “I’ll arrange my own agents to act as guards until you come back. That should make it easier, right?”

Prawls just scowled at Morrison but it looked more out of concern than anything else. “That’s… it’s not something I’m comfortable with, Jack.” He spoke, leaving out a lot of specifics for some reason and reducing his excuse down to one that was personal, in Gabriel’s opinion. It certainly didn’t feel like the task assigned to Prawls was one he volunteered for anyways…

Jack gave him a look in return. “It’s my fault asking for your help at the last moment, Deacon. I’ll handle it. Trust me.” He added to try to reassure his friend but Prawls just seemed more concerned than anything else. “Please.” Morrison tried, making Prawls heave out a troubled sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Fine.”

“You make it seem like I won’t be with Reyes the majority of the time either, Deacon. You’re thinking too hard on this one.” Amari spoke as she walked forward and gently rested a hand on Prawls’ shoulder, making the alpha visibly relax at the reassuring touch.

“Reyes?” 

Gabriel looked over at Morrison as he got his attention. Morrison looked hesitant for a moment before taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out before speaking again to him.

“I never slept with any felidae before or after you. Many felidae and other hybrids chose to hide their traits but that usually doesn't extend to when clothes come off in the bedroom. Neil looks just like you and I’m pretty sure that alone doubles the likelihood of you getting abducted even if you don't turn out to be his father. Terrorist groups have already tried to abduct you twice and it was Prawls and his team that foiled them every time in the last year alone without you even being aware of it while I was pregnant with Neil.” Morrison leveled with Gabriel as he told him the depressing truth of his circumstances. “Ana merely made the choice for me to have you brought here since I have been wanting to do more to protect your life but not like this - directly interfering with your day-to-day business. I’m not sorry for having Neil in my life but I am sorry for personally troubling you regardless. Please do not misunderstand that.”

Gabriel scowled at Morrison as he crossed his own arms over his chest. “You’re damn right it’s not the kid’s fault but I do find this whole thing rather shitty. First of all was the fact that I got super drunk that night to the point where I don't even remember what happened and you weren't even there the next morning to fill me in on shit. I don't plan on pressing charges since I would have been cool with having sex with you without being drunk but that was a really shitbag move.” 

Morrison grew pale at that as Gabriel dug into him about that night before he reached down into his blue duster's pocket to pull out his phone. “You’re right that I should have at least waited until you woke up but I had a flight to catch back to Zurich and attend an early morning meeting as well.” He walked over to Gabriel, standing next to him as he opened his phone’s gallery. There were several albums Morrison scrolled past like weddings and ceremonies before he opened one labeled ‘Gabriel’.

‘Jackie!’ Gabriel heard himself laugh out loud as the sound of the crowded bar played in the background while he watched himself from Morrison’s POV. ‘Stop! Why are you recording me, Asshole?’ His hand was clutching the back of his head like he was in pain but was still in a pleasant mood regardless. Gabriel certainly didn't seem drunk in the video as the recording kept playing. 

‘Sir?’ The bartender was holding a phone to his ear as he stood across the bar counter from Gabriel. ‘Do you want me to call the ambulance? You fell really ha-’

‘No, no!’ Gabriel laughed as he waved off the younger man’s concern. ‘The only falling I did was for this handsome bastard right next to me.’

Gabriel made an incredulous sigh at his stupidity in general and how bad the pun was on top of it as he heard Morrison sigh the same way in the video. Great, his stupid ass had a concussion when he fell from the barstool and that might be the reason he couldn't remember the whole date. Morrison was still visibly nervous next to Gabriel but he wasn't sure if he should apologize or not, especially when he couldn't recollect the event at all. His head did hurt something bad the next day but he thought it was just the hangover and maybe hitting his head while he was drunk in his apartment.

“Yeah, I always record incidents like this that happen around me for these kinds of misunderstandings.” Morrison somberly informed Gabriel as he tucked his phone away into his pocket. “I asked you a few times that night if you wanted to go to the hospital and you kept brushing me off with a smile like it was no big deal.” He sadly recalled. “I have all your responses recorded. I do it with everyone I take out for a night of fun to protect myself.”

Gabriel frowned at that as he regarded Morrison’s tired expression. “Huh. I kind of thought there would be selfies or something in the album.” He chuckled sheepishly, trying to offer some form of comfort to Morrison.

Morrison smiled slightly. “There are a few, yes...” He cryptically spoke, Amari gazing at Morrison with keen interest that the blonde promptly ignored. “But, yeah… I should have written a note or something, maybe have had better foresight…” He spoke, still sounding troubled with the whole situation.

“Yeah, kind of awkward if…” Prawls cut himself off smartly as Morrison shot him the nastiest glare possible.

“Don't you EVER imply that Neil was conceived in a non-consensual manner, Deacon. I swear to fucking god I will-”

“Enough, Jack!” Amari cut him off before looking at Prawls. “Thank you for your assistance, Deacon, we will be sure to get in touch for the guard schedule when you come back.”

Prawls nodded his head and turned on his heels to leave the hallway, Amari doing them all a favor by stopping that discussion when Morrison probably had proof on his phone that had Gabriel saying he was down for sex anyways. The concussion just made things much more complicated than it needed to be on Gabriel's side. 

Morrison sighed heavily as he shook his head in disbelief, bringing a hand up to run through his hair. Neil was sleeping contently in Morrison’s carrier, the man still running pale as he looked down at his son with unfathomable sadness in his eyes. A shaky hand came up to gently stroke the baby’s blue cap gradually helping ease the man’s anxiety like every touch filled him with strength and courage. Gabriel tucked his hands into the pockets of his pants as he looked away, wanting to give Morrison some privacy to recover from that terrifying topic. He still wasn't ready to talk about it though.

If felidae children weren't such an adorable ‘commodity’ like teacup puppies for the rich then he wouldn't doubt Morrison's love for their son. It was hard to unlearn decades of lessons his community and seeing the reality for himself in the news about how far humans would go to have ‘cat ears’ on their kids…

\--

Gabriel held Neil in his arms as he laid on his back in Morrison's room, Amari sitting cross-legged above his head on the bed, tapping away on her datapad doing work while also supervising Gabe and Neil. Morrison was dragged away for a long meeting, allowing Gabriel to interact with Neil in the privacy of the strike commander's room on the top floor of the main building. Gabriel had the half felidae’s baby cap off and the onesie off as well. A bare chest baby against his father’s bare chest as Gabriel exposed his ears as well, the beanie laying beside him on the massive bed if he needed to pull it back on. 

“Captain Amari?” Gabriel asked curiously, craning his head back to look up at Amari. 

“Call me ‘Ana’, Gabriel.” She smiled as she continued to tap away on her datapad. “Also, yes, what do you need?”

“Does Morrison keep Neil’s hat on at all times? Even in private?” 

Ana hummed as she thought about it, pausing her fingers momentarily before looking down at Gabriel by her thigh. “I’m not quite sure about that, Gabriel. It might be something to talk to Jack about when he comes back. Is it about Neil’s ears?” She asked as she watched him gently massage his son’s teeny little circular ears on top of his head with his fingers.

Gabriel frowned but was still purring softly as he glanced down at the snoozing infant on his chest. “Yeah. They won’t stand up properly if they’re pinned down under a hat all the time. It can't be too comfortable for him either.” He moved a hand down to lightly rub the infant’s back, it brought him back to the pictures of Gabriel’s own father doing the same thing decades ago when he was a baby.

“Then you should definitely inform Jack of anything like that pertaining to Neil’s general well-being if Jack is accidentally overlooking something important.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes at that. “It was hard enough to convince him to go to his damned meeting with the UN officials ten minutes ago, Ana, you really think he’ll take my advice with a grain of salt?” 

“Jack is a first-time parent and barely has a month of experience under his belt with handling his child, Gabriel. It’s to be expected that he’s wary of leaving Neil with anyone, even myself. You’re being too hard on him and think he would shut out your advice when it’s highly likely the opposite. The fact that he volunteered to come with for the tour was a rather big indicator that he is open to the idea of being around you with Neil in tow.” She remarked with an amused smirk on her lips as she regarded both him and Neil. “You two are adorable. Mind if I take a picture?” 

Gabriel was a bit more open to accepting that request than considering Morrison wanting to seek his experience when dealing with baby felidae along with his own from just growing up. He kept one hand on Neil’s back as he reached down into his own pocket to fetch out his own phone, unlocking it before passing it up to Ana. “Only if you take a picture with my own phone as well.”

Ana grinned happily as she plucked the phone from Gabriel's hand and set her own on her lap while she held the camera horizontally. Gabriel stuck his tongue out and crossed his eyes for the picture, Ana laughing as she snapped the picture. “Okay, now how about a serious shot?”

Gabriel pouted at her before craning his chin down to his chest to look at Neil. “You hear that, Neil? She doesn't like to take goofy pictures.”

The baby just looked up at him blankly, Ana snapping another picture of them as father and son exchanged looks at each other, mostly Gabriel impulsively mimicking Neil to make Ana laugh. She went back and forth between phones, recording many memories of them just messing around with Neil while also stopping occasionally to take some more serious ‘family’ pictures. Gabriel even put his T-shirt back on to cradle Neil in his arms, smiling down at his son’s face while Ana stood on the bed to get the perfect angle of that iconic ‘father and infant’ picture everyone needed to have in the baby photo album. 

Eventually, they stopped fussing around with Neil and put him down for a nap in the cradle that was in Morrison’s bedroom. Amari turned on the baby music and Gabriel set up the baby monitor before they both headed over to the door, flipping the light off and closing the door quietly behind them. The official babysitter took over then for them as they left the strike commander's quarters like they promised Jack and then headed for the meal hall for lunch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was very nervous about posting this chapter and I hope my warnings were more than enough to help at least guide away readers who might not even like hints or possible discussions of non-con situations. 
> 
> I'm being one hundred percent sincere that Gabriel was very enthusiastic about romancing Jack off his feet that night and that passion might come back for the two of them as the story progresses. I just wanted to be realistic about the opinions Gabe and others would have about Neil, especially when Jack intentionally kept others out of the loop for more reasons than just his own selfish ones.
> 
> Please leave me feedback on how you think I did approaching the topic and how Jack handled the whole thing during flashbacks.


	3. i am the father

It was only when Gabriel was in the safety of his new and way too extravagant room in the equally glitz hallway that felt more fitting in an upscale hotel than a UN-sanctioned peacekeeping organization. His bag and stuff was already in the room when he carried his food tray from the mess hall to eat into the privacy of his own room to help gather his thoughts on his situation alone. He moved over to the lavish table and four chairs that matched as he set down his tray and pulled one out to take a seat in it after kicking off his shoes by the door.

The room was like an over-sized apartment that felt way too big for just himself as he picked up his fork and idly stirred the parmesan cheese on top of his large serving of spaghetti. As nice as the facility and everyone who worked here seemed to be, Gabriel couldn't help but feel like he was just going to be a pampered prisoner of Overwatch. The guards posted outside of his door were polite and greeted him with a smile but they would go anywhere he wanted to go for his protection. 

All because he MIGHT be the father of Neil Morrison.

The technicians from the 3rd party paternity test company did take cheek swab samples from him under Amari’s supervision before Morrison let him spend some time indirectly with Neil after he handed the baby to Amari. Maybe it would turn out he wasn't the father and would be able to leave with an interesting story about the whole mix up. He was pretty sure Morrison would put him under an NDA to keep the identity of his son and the baby daddy drama out of the news circulation though so that was probably out of picture for a couple of years. Gabriel was sure his dad would love to hear about the whole thing and the fact that he got to meet a baby felidae that had bits of panther in it as long as he talked around it being Morrison's son, of course.

Neil was cute as all hell though and Gabriel felt absolutely flattered that they thought such an adorable babe was his son. Gabe was pretty sure Neil would be quite the heartbreaker when he got older. The panther genes were powerful ones that would make him a proud and strong kid if he was brought up properly assuming he was the dad.

Gabriel felt himself nod in agreement with that thought as he twirled the noodles on his fork and brought it to his mouth to eat. He could worry about this whole thing and let his food get cold or he could just let things be as they are, for now, until it was verified he was Neil’s father. Getting invested would just set him up for disappointment if he resigned himself to the facts as they stand now. Morrison wasn’t exactly fond of him being around Neil either.

He frowned at that but focused on finishing up his meal before getting up with the tray containing the used dish and silverware to place it on a stand by the door that was labeled ‘trash, dishware returns’. Fancy. Someone would probably come pick it up when they clean his room tomorrow or now, if he called for the pick up. Gabriel turned away from it to start exploring his new home for the meantime.

The place was like a presidential suite you would see in Las Vegas hotels with large rooms and lots of expensive furnishings. He took out his phone and started taking pictures before deciding to start stream chatting to his family’s group chat.

“Hey, Everyone! Gabe here at my fancy-shmancy apartment in the Overwatch HQ building!” Gabriel started as he started walking backwards with his face taking up half of the shot as he showed off the dining room, turning in a circle to capture what he could in the few seconds he was allowed by the app before it stopped record and hit ‘send’.

“Oh shit! Gabi made it there intact!” His younger sister, Marin, excitedly shouted out in her video response, showing herself to be in the living room of the family home. “He got a vacation home there!”

The chat timeline started filling up with reaction posts, making Gabriel smile as he took the time to listen and watch every single one. He missed his family and wished they were here to help him fill the large amount of empty space he felt standing in the living room of the deluxe apartment. They could have air mattresses all over the floor if they shoved the couch out of the way and still have room to walk around without stepping on them. The large balcony outside fit for drinking together with mom cooking on the grill as they swapped stories and took sips from their beer bottles. 

It was way too much for just one person. Was this really what dignitaries demanded they live in when visiting Overwatch? You could split it in half to make two perfectly good apartments much less have multiple of these kinds of rooms on one lavish floor. 

He ended up doing a complete tour of the place for his family while also making surprising discoveries for himself like the pantry and refrigerator being filled with fresh food, brands he had never heard of, and plenty of fine booze he only saw featured in movies before. Gabriel held a bottle of chilled brut in his hand and smiled to his uncle who wanted him to specifically catch a video featuring both the brut and himself in it. 

“Shake and open it, Gabi!” The older Reyes cheered him on in his reply video with Gabriel’s aunt whooping in the background in encouragement.

Gabriel laughed as he started his next reply. “Nah. I ain’t going to open anything I can’t normally buy myself in case it’s not complimentary. Last thing I want to do is get stuck in debt from this trip, Uncle Leo!” 

He placed the bottle of brut back on the shelf and made sure it was facing the way it was before he took it out so no one could accuse him of taking a sip and trying to rewrap it without paying. It was mostly paranoia talking since you had to break the seal covering AND remove the cork to get a sip but he didn’t want to chance it anyways. Gabriel closed the refrigerator door and peeked into the cabinets to find perfectly good glasses for drinking water from and one of those fancy add-on filters on the sink head, a sign that it would be easy to just drink fresh water without breaking into the bottles of water in the fridge. Maybe he should ask Amari to come into the apartment and help him figure out what consumables he could partake in without getting billed later for it. Gabriel took note of the oven, stovetop, and microwave along with all the cooking utensils he could possibly want to make himself food instead of just going into the mess hall to get a warm meal before moving on.

All of his luggage was neatly up against the wall in the equally extravagant bedroom and he found himself frowning when he saw the bed was simply too big for his own tastes. He sucked it up as he started recording the tour of the bedroom and let himself flop onto the bed after his niece begged him to record himself doing a belly flop on it. It may be too damn big for one person but he was practically melting into the softness of it and sighed happily as he rolled onto his back to start watching his family’s enthusiastic/envious replies.

Maybe if he searched the closet he’ll find extra pillows to stuff around himself for comfort when he goes to bed tonight. 

That or maybe pick up someone at a bar- scratch that, he can’t leave the facility much less go out drinking to unwind from all of this. Besides, who knows if he won’t hit his head after getting some liquid courage and knock up some other omega irresponsibly? Gabriel grumbled lightly and shook his head at how bitter he still was over this whole thing. He had no business knowing about what happened or that Morrison decided to continue the pregnancy after he learned of it. The only really shitty thing that he had a right to be bitter about was Morrison’s failure to tell him about the concussion he suffered.

Just a little note that said ‘oh, hey, you hit your head last night and I’m just writing this down in case you forget! Thanks for last night, by the way. - Jack’ or something like that. What if the concussion spiraled into something worse latter like internal bleeding? Yes, Jack had witnesses and recording that showed Gabriel declining medical treatment but it still would have been nice to have a written reminder on behalf of his wellbeing!

He sighed as he let his arms flop down on the sheets above his head, ignoring the chat for a few moments while he let himself try to think from Jack’s point of view based on the video he showed him earlier that evening. Gabriel seemed to be on the moon at that bar if falling off a bar stool wasn’t enough to spoil the fun for him. He knew what drunk!Gabriel was like from the many videos his college buddies recorded of him in the past and he was definitely not being a social withdrawn stick-in-the-mud at all like he would be if he was drunk. 

Gabriel always kind of had a celebrity crush on Jack Morrison. The guy was charismatic on the video news feeds, seemed to care passionately about the state of the world, and had a smile that was very infectious. Maybe Gabriel DID have a thing for cute blonde boys but Jack Morrison wasn’t some movie star superhero character; he was a real, genuine, super hero. Everyone knew about the Soldier Enhancement Project after the Omnic Crisis ended and Jack Morrison’s almost-superhero like feats became something of a debate until the US Military was forced to talk about it. Jack Morrison was basically Captain America come to life.

Comic books weren’t much of Gabriel’s thing but he did like the Marvel superhero movies that continued to be remade and followed the cinematic universe’s storyline across their many, many superhero film series. Captain America just happened to be one he liked following and one that everyone seemed to compare the strike commander to the most. Gabriel did have to admit he did enjoy watching the interview where Jack Morrison met and talked with the actor of the remake Captain America maybe ten times or so but he never allowed himself to go any further than a healthy curiosity about the commander.

Them meeting at a bar together and Gabriel being capable of generating a sentence out of his own mouth to convince a superhero to go on a date with him after a drink or two? 

He found himself smiling from ear to ear as he let out an enthusiastic, but quiet ‘yes!!’ when he punched both of his fists and kicked his legs up into the air. It was an embarrassing reaction to have given the circumstances but he honestly managed to woo Jack Morrison! He knew he gave Jack a large bouquet of flowers and that the man took it with him somewhere where Ana Amari got to seem them but whether that was at the hotel they were staying at or on the shuttle home, Gabriel would not know. 

Maybe Jack liked the gesture enough not to just leave them in Gabriel’s apartment or throw them out immediately since he was caught carrying them? He managed to get two things right then that night and he couldn’t have been more proud of himself for having the balls to actually court the strike commander of Overwatch.

He let his limbs flop back on the bed and felt above himself on the sheets for his phone out of a sudden curiosity to see if maybe he had taken pictures of that night as well. Gabriel never really used the camera on his phone, much less go through the gallery since he usually uploaded right to his social media pages then forgot about it. He unlocked his phone and minimize the video chat app for now to go digging for possible evidence of that night that he had forgotten. His heart racing in his chest and an eager smile on his face as he swiped through his apps to pull up his phone’s gallery.

His index finger tapped on the photo reel and a short scroll downwards revealed that he did indeed have photos from that night. Gabriel shot upwards as he double tapped on the first image he did not recognize and enlarged it to see a shot off the last moment Gabe personally took of that night; Jack Morrison’s sleeping face, lit warmly by the light of the lamp on Gabriel’s nightstand behind him when he likely took shot lying down on the bed next to him. 

He felt his heart squeeze almost painfully in his chest from how nice the content commander looked as he slept on his belly with his arms tucked under one of Gabriel’s pillow and the side of his face buried into its fluffiness. Morrison was likely naked but had the covers pulled up and over his shoulders with only his neck and muscular bicep on display as he slept. The bouquet of flowers lying on the nightstand behind Morrison’s head in the picture, his tousled blonde hair looking angelic in contrast to the colorful variety of lilies behind it. 

Lilies.

His dumb fucking ass bought Jack Morrison a bouquet of lilies of various meanings mixed together instead of going for roses like any normal person would have done. Gabriel brought his hand up to smack his forehead and slowly drag it down the front of his face as he groaned in humiliation. Lilies were something you give to your spouse on your second wedding anniversary or what you lay on the grave sites of the dead, not give to someone to show your affection for them!

Jack Morrison was either oblivious to their meaning or brought the flowers back to show off how much of an idiot Gabriel was. He probably wouldn’t do the latter but in Gabriel’s mind he sure as hell felt like he deserved to be ridiculed for that damn blunder.

Wanting to move on from an otherwise breath-taking picture, he swiped to the left to pull up the next picture, moving backwards in the timeline of that night; A picture of both Gabriel and Morrison standing side-by-side at night with the lit up golden gate bridge in the background. They were both holding the bouquet of lilies between them as they bore sincere smiles on their faces looking towards the phone. 

Instead of the uncontained joy he felt from the last picture, he couldn’t help but feel envy this time for the Gabriel who got to smile so blissfully happy beside such a sweet smiling Morrison. He flipped to the next picture and felt himself slipping from somewhere between happy that this date did happen to bitterness of not being able to remember it at all as he continued to swipe past each moment he got to experience with Morrison. It was like some clone of himself took his phone and proceeded to give Jack Morrison a few hour tour of the city along with taking him out to dinner at one of his favorite dives.

How did nobody else he knew not know that such a spectacular thing happened to him that evening? Did Gabriel just keep this all to himself that night and try to not make a big deal of it?

…

Yeah… He probably would out of respect for Morrison and just give him a nice night where he wasn’t the face of one of the most important organizations in the world. Just the two of them and the bouquet of lilies that seemed to show up in every single picture; Gabriel either overly proud of his purchase that night or, less likely, Morrison wanting to show it off at any chance he could get.

Gabriel was probably on cloud nine that whole night, even without the alcohol. He could see himself doing all those things with Morrison, including the embarrassing picture he took of them holding hands over the concrete sidewalk and only their hands. Hell, there was TWO pictures of the damn thing that had Gabriel’s cheeks heating up; one where they were holding hands and the other ‘after’ picture where their fingers were interlaced with one another’s; Sappy as all hell and apparently Morrison seemed to go along with the stupid thing.

The thought of the Morrison Gabriel knew compared to this almost-stranger that Gabriel had an amazing night out with was jarring as he paused his thumb on the picture of their fingers interlaced together instead of swiping to the next. He brought his phone down to rest on his chest as he wondered what the hell happened if both of their phones showed evidence of two smitten idiots going on a date when their interactions here, almost a year later, were almost glacier by comparison. Morrison had up such a huge wall between them when they talked that it might as well have been both of their clones going out on that date with their phones in tow.

It was confusing and honestly started to hurt more now that he could actually see from his own perspective how much he enjoyed Morrison’s companionship that night. Now that he wasn’t so far removed like he was before, he was wondering what he did wrong to make Morrison despise him on sight. Neil was a memento of such a wonderful night between them but apparently Morrison didn’t hold onto the photos and videos as nothing more than evidence. 

Gabriel wouldn’t call himself an emotional person but it was enough to make tears gather in the corners of his eyes when he lifted his phone back up to continue looking through the pictures. Was there any evidence Gabriel had that would explain a possible utter motive on Morrison’s behalf that he was just looking to get pregnant with his child and cut him off cold turkey like he is now? 

All he could find was pictures taken by a clear thinking but very much smitten Gabriel and candid pictures of Morrison’s smiles reaching his eyes along with moments that did not reflect the kind of man Gabriel saw on new vids. It made the idea of deception on Morrison’s side dig that much deeper when Gabriel knew he had no reason to be invested just because he took pictures of his crush when they were on a date. If Morrison wanted a part panther felidae as his child then there would be donors out there that would offer their sperm to them in a heartbeat and he would have no reason to seek Gabriel out. Gabriel could even remember that HE was the one who initiated conversation with Morrison at the bar and that it took a little bit for him to warm up to the idea of opening up with Gabriel. Hell, he wasn’t even dressed up properly to pick up someone even with Morrison’s good looks and yet Gabriel still wanted to know if there was a chance that he was the strike commander.

To think that this wasn’t a coincidence would be a conspiracy too stupid to justify outside of a thriller movie plot. This was reality they were talking about and it wasn’t just Gabriel’s nuts the guy was entirely after.

Gabriel clenched at his phone in his hand, trying to push the confusion and doubt out of his head trying to make it a bigger deal than it was. He might not be Neil’s father, after all, and overthinking things was just going to hurt him more in the end. Morrison might as well have been a total stranger regardless of their obvious infatuation in the pictures. He could try bringing the date up with Morrison in private but who knows if he would even want to much less have the time to with his busy schedule. Gabriel’s shouldn’t get his heart mixed into this but would at least try for some closure before he goes back home to the States if he’s not Neil’s father. With that, he closed out of his photo gallery and locked his phone before getting up and crawling to the head of the bed to pull back the covers. He could use a nap now that he was emotionally drained from that rollercoaster he experienced and slipped under them to drift off to sleep.

\--

Gabriel woke up two hours later after Amari called the phone in the room, and let him know that she was on her way to his room with the results of the paternity test. Rather than being a nice person and telling him on the phone what it was, she wanted to discuss it privately with Gabriel; meaning that he was likely the father if she was this insistent on keeping a straightforward answer from him, he guessed. He hung up the phone after that and slipped out of the bed, feeling emotionally strung out already even though he tried to nap his stress off. Gabriel slipped his phone back on the pocket after he located it on the floor, probably knocking it off the covers in his sleep when he forgot to secure it for his nap.

He removed his beanie and set it on the nightstand, bringing his fingers up to massage his circular black ears on his head to ease the dull throbbing from falling asleep with the damn beanie on. There was enough pressure from the beanie flattening them in the first place without adding more by accidentally keeping it on and it was pretty obvious that he was emotionally drained to the point of not caring about his comfort from earlier. He was going to need to talk to someone about the pictures on his phone and his conflicted feelings surrounding the whole thing, especially with how Jack was treating him distantly. Ana Amari was pretty much going to be the only one he could talk to about this other than a shrink that she might assign to him on site in the HQ if she couldn’t help him out with it.

A door bell rang and drew Gabriel out of his head as he rose to his feet, heading out of the bedroom and towards the door. He unlocked the door and saw Ana Amari with a warm smile on her face along with a large sealed folder under her arm; likely the paper proofs of the paternity test since Overwatch couldn’t leave anything in the third party company’s hands that would lead to a scandal. 

“May I come in, Gabriel?”

“Sure.” Gabriel replied as he stood aside and let her enter, letting the door close behind her while Gabriel latched all the manual locks.

Once Amari removed her shoes, Gabriel followed her into the living room and sat down beside her on the couch. She let the binded manilla document holder rest in her lap as she got comfortable on the couch and turned to him with a friendly smile on her face. Gabriel was feeling pretty down right now and couldn’t be bothered to hide it in the privacy of his apartment, even in front of Amari. Her eyes were full of empathy for him as she picked up and offered him the document holder, letting him verify what he likely knew to spare him of the small talk. 

“Thank you.” He murmured appreciatively for making this a bit less painful than she made it by making him wait for her arrival and tore open the tamper-proof stripping keeping the folder sealed. 

Gabriel reached down into the folder and pulled out a stack of professional papers that was bounded with string in a fancy manner, setting the empty folder onto the coffee table in front of them. The cover was the third party company’s logo and bland title of ‘sample results’ in bold, not what Gabriel cared about at the moment as he flipped pages that outlined the samples, how they were collected, copies of the signatures of witnesses present for the collection (Amari and Morrison’s signatures featured without much fanfare for obvious reasons), description of cells and where they were taken with the vague ‘patient #1’ and ‘patient #2’ being used to hide Gabriel and Neil’s identities. Gabriel continued to flip through the fine paper as it outlined the process of genetic identification and broke down the multiple tests the samples went through to get the final results; ‘‘Patient #1’ and ‘Patient #2’ are of high genetic similarity; Likelihood of biological relation is very high.’ The time stamp on the last page was an hour and a half ago.

“Any reason you held onto this knowledge for around an hour, Amari?” He asked, letting himself assume that it took thirty minutes or so to deliver to Overwatch instead of assuming she just got it. She would correct him if he was wrong, after all.

Amari’s eyes were resting on her hands folded on her lap. “Jack needed someone to talk to when he opened his copy of the results. I wasn't going to leave him alone, Gabriel. I’m sorry.” She replied empathetically.

Made sense she wanted to be there for her friend while he probably broke down at the idea of Gabriel actually being the father of his darling son. Gabriel leaned over to set the binder papers on the coffee table before letting himself flop back against the plush cushioning of the couch. 

“Well, I guess I'm the daddy then.” He chuckled without finding it very funny at all. “Am I really going to be confined here, Amari?” 

A hand was gently placed on his shoulder, Amari trying to show empathy when he was on the urge of breaking from all of this. “No. Jack and I had a talk and he wants you to be able to visit any watchpoint without his permission. You can work and stay at the California branch and go about your life as you wish. We’ll have a team of a few agents assigned to guard you from a distance at all times.” She reassured him, making Gabriel look over at her in confusion.

“What? That’s not what you guys said earlier.”

“We had dinner and talked about the details if you were indeed the father, Gabriel. We didn’t have a team assigned to you the entire time but only when we received credible information that someone was thinking of going after you. If we have a small team dedicated to your protection at all times then Jack would be fine with you resuming as close to a resemblance of normal for you with some minor changes in employment and possibly where you will be staying.”

“How nice of him…” Gabriel remarked bitterly, feeling conflicted now that Morrison was pushing him physically away from his son and changing up Gabriel’s life while using terms like ‘minor’ as if he wasn’t still uprooting Gabriel in someway without his sayso. 

“Is… Something about this arrangement not to your liking?” Amari asked carefully as she regarded Gabriel’s darkening outlook with confusion.

“Why won’t he talk to me about it rather than just making you act as a mediator for the whole thing? Is Morrison purposely avoiding me or something?” He asked with a huff.

“Yes.” Amari answered rather simply, making Gabriel pause before looking at her in utter perplexity. 

“What?”

“Jack is avoiding you and making me act in his stead. I have to admit that he has every right to deny you access to his child if he desires so but flat out avoiding you when you both should be talking about this WITH me mediating the discussion would make things much easier all together.” Amari sighed, very much troubled by all the weight she was carrying on Morrison’s behalf. 

“I’m not understanding why he would be avoiding me. Is it about Neil?” He asked, wanting to know why Morrison was doing such a thing when he was fine with following Gabriel and Amari on their tour earlier.

“No, it’s not about Neil. I’m not exactly sure why Jack is acting this way. He refuses to tell me.” 

Great. Not helpful at all.

Gabriel shook his head and looked up at the ceiling, hoping it would give him some answers if Amari couldn’t. He closed his eyes to let them relax and took deep breaths in through his nose and out through his mouth. Once he felt calm enough, Gabriel dug out his phone from his pocket and looked down at the screen as he unlocked it. He pulled up the gallery app and scrolled all the way to the first picture he took from that night before enlarging it then passing it over to Amari.

“Swipe right. I found out that I took some pictures from that night and… I just feel very confused on who Morrison is much less who the man is that decided he doesn’t want me around.” He explained calmly, watching Amari’s expressions carefully as she slowly looked at each photo before moving onto the next.

Her expressions were mostly neutral through the first few until she paused suddenly on the picture of Jack outside of the flower shop holding the bouquet of lilies in his arms with a beautiful smile on his face. She seemed perplexed by the image, using her index fingers on the screen to zoom in on Jack’s facial expression for a long minuted before zooming out and moving onto the next picture. 

“I was wondering how terrorist organizations found out about you. I always assumed it was because you two went on a public date and someone recognized Jack on the street with someone else.” Amari murmured as she kept her focus on the pictures, the next one showing them at a restaurant with Gabriel and Jack sitting across from each other in a booth, a waiter likely taking the picture for them. “The two organizations that sent out kidnappers had a bit of wealth and connections, meaning that someone might have figured out by hacking your phone if you were taking photos this frequently on the date. Someone might have tailed you both that relayed the information about your picture taking spree.”

Gabriel was stunned by that. He might have put himself in danger by taking photos that night? It wasn’t a ‘connect the dots’ situation regarding Jack’s pregnancy? 

Wait, right, even he didn’t know about Morrison’s pregnancy much less the world knowing the strike commander was an omega! How would a terrorist organization find out Jack was pregnant much less who the father might be?

An internal leak…?

He visibly felt sick of the idea that there was a traitor(s) that close to Morrison that they would have found out and had their agents track him down to try to abduct him. There’s no way Amari would not be aware of a possible infiltration of Overwatch and Gabriel had no idea if his room was bugged or not for him to bring it up. He couldn’t risk any spies overhearing them and then possibly doing something drastic in retaliation. People could be killed or worse if he ran his mouth in unsecure locations!

What if that was what prompted Morrison and Amari to decide to reconsider having him at the Zurich branch? They were afraid he might get closer to the truth and get them all hurt as a result. He looked back at Amari, swallowing hard as he tried to figure out how to approach her on the topic before looking at her relaxed smile. 

His eyes gazed down at the picture of their hands being interlaced and felt his face flush up with warmth.

“I think I understand what you are saying, Gabriel.”

“Y… Yeah?”

Amari resumed swiping through each picture as her face brightened more and more until she was on the picture of Jack sleeping in Gabriel’s bed. She was happy, genuinely smiling and seemed so moved by the pictures as she handed Gabriel back his phone after the next picture was just Gabriel at an office party. 

“Jack was very happy with you that night. You really brightened up a miserable day for him when he stomped out of our hotel after he received some depressing news about a mission op going on. I can’t tell you the details but he was probably looking to just get drunk before coming back judging by how rushed his outfit and hair was.” Amari remarked as she folded her hands back on her lap and relaxed back against the couch cushion with Gabriel. “He was like a different person when he came back to the hotel in the morning with a bouquet of flowers in his arms. It obviously wasn’t a member of the press or an admirer that would make Jack want to keep them when he had plenty of opportunities to gift them away or ‘forget’ them in his hotel room.”

“Isn’t it kind of p-presumptuous to assume he kept them for a reason?” Gabriel asked impulsively, trying to think of some logical reason Morrison would keep them on him and not link it to the date with Gabriel being something it might not be at all. “Maybe he just like lilies.”

She looked over at him with a warm smile before reaching over to place her hand on Gabriel’s shoulder to give it a little squeeze. “Are you that star-struck that you think so little of yourself in comparison to Jack? That the commander of Overwatch would not fall for someone as charming as yourself to allow you to take such intimate photos to remember the night by? Maybe he has some candid photos of his own that aren’t just evidence to protect himself with.”

Gabriel felt his face burn under her knowing smile and remembered that ‘selfie’ discussion he used to move away from an uncomfortable topic earlier. Was Jack just playing along to move along or did he genuine capture some pictures for himself? 

“Even so, though, to say that your one date ten months ago still holds sway over Jack would be the most presumptuous thing of all, don’t you think?” Amari asked and Gabriel quickly nodded his head in agreement.

“Of course! He doesn’t know me well enough and I clearly don’t know about him enough to say that anything holds water now, especially when he has Neil in his life!” Gabriel clarified nervously, not wanting Amari to think he assumed Morrison had feelings for him and that Gabe had power over him because of that. “Besides, he’s going to make me quit my job and work for Overwatch at the California branch! Clearly he doesn’t have lingering feels either.” He added confidently.

Amari smiled at his answer and nodded her head in approval. “With that cleared up, I can wholeheartedly consent for you to try to ask him on a date or two while you’re here.” She gleefully spoke as she gave his shoulder an encouraging squeeze.

Gabriel felt like someone popped a balloon next to him because he had to process what she just said twice before thinking it was a trap. “Ex-excuse me?”

Her smile didn't waver whatsoever. “A date. Between you and Jack. I approve.”

His brows furrowed together skeptically as he stared long and hard at her. “Where the hell did this all come from?”

“You want to know if Jack in the pictures is the same man running Overwatch, correct?”

“Yeah, but, I just kind of wanted your opinion, Amari…” Gabriel sheepishly spoke as he brought a hand up to rub at the back of his neck.

“My opinion is that you two should at least go out to dinner and see for yourself. I’m rather curious as well.” 

Gabriel frowned as he tucked his phone back into his pocket and rested his hands on his knees. He was still jealous that he couldn’t remember the experience between the two of them that night and Morrison keeping the lilies with him then giving birth to Neil… There were so many mysteries he wanted answers to before he would leave at the end of the week and Amari was offering to help him out or something, if he was reading between the lines properly with her. He remembered how much it hurt to see such precious expressions and moments between them in the photos and wanted to relive them for himself. It was better to know and head home with some form of closure if Morrison was indeed no longer interested like he was that night.

“Sure, but, will he even have time for it much less be interested? What about Neil?” He asked as he looked over at Amari with a conflicted expression on his face.

“You just leave everything to me, Gabriel. He might be more willing to open up his schedule for you than you think.” She smiled before getting up. “Anyways, I have a meeting to attend to and you should probably rest up for tomorrow for the next tour.”

“Oh, right. We’re going to check out the indoor farm and such.” He smiled as he got up and walked her over to the door, letting her put her shoes on before unlocking it to let her out. “See you tomorrow, Amari. Thank you, by the way.”

“Don’t thank me until after we’re done, Gabriel. I’ll send you a text with the time we’ll head over to the facility in an hour, alright?”

“Sure thing. Bye.” He waved casually.

“Have a good night.” She replied with a smile before walking out the door and Gabriel closing it behind her.

He locked all the manual locks up before walking about the apartment to make sure all the windows and the balcony doors were locked up tightly. Gabriel might be overthinking the situation regarding an infiltration in Overwatch’s ranks but he wasn’t going to intentionally let his guard down where he could proactively assure his own safety. Once everything was locked up tightly then he went to go take a shower in one of those ‘full body spraying’ set ups with multiple shower head lining the wall. He practically melted from how good it felt but didn’t stay in it for too long before shutting it off and pulling on one of the fluffiest bath robes every hanging from one of the wall pegs. Using a towel to dry off his hair, he walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom to grab his phone to sit down on one of the cushioned chairs. He wanted to dry off naturally and just read on his phone to pass the hour before he planned on pulling on a fresh pair of boxers then going right to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, please leave a comment if you enjoyed this chapter! Sorry for not updating it in a while!


	4. Breakfast

Gabriel was dressed in a nice button up business shirt and jeans, like Amari advised him in her text, as he held a dozing Neil in his arms. Ana was appropriately dressed down in a similar fashion as she wore the vacant baby harness since she insisted Gabriel hold the little one for a bit. Her excuse being that ‘her back was aching and needed relief’ but Gabriel would gladly take any excuse to cuddle with his kid. Gabriel had a feeling that Morrison would have something to say about how quickly Amari passed Neil to him when they all met up for breakfast if not for the guy’s phone constantly going off

“Yes, yes, I know that the Antarctic division is having difficulties with-” Morrison paused in his rather diplomatic conversation as he idly cut into his fancy ham omelet while eyeing one of two tablets taking up table space around his plate. If not for the fact that this was a private section of the ‘officers’ lounge, Gabriel would find the strike commander more hesitant to juggle work while trying to eat. “Of course! Of course, Sir!” Morrison grinned, Gabriel watching the man in fascination as he effortlessly set down his fork and leaned over one of the tablets to rapidly start tapping with one hand. “It’s an honor to have Greenland’s support in Overwatch’s environmental efforts- !” He paused before letting out a loud laugh, likely the important person on the other side trying to brush off the formalities with a joke or two.

Gabriel found himself captivated with how nice the expression looked on the greying blonde’s face before he heard Ana clear her throat next to him. He tensed up for a moment before hesitantly glancing over at Ana. Instead of poking fun at him for staring at Morrison, the woman held out her hands towards Gabriel with a smile.

“Thank you for holding Neil, Gabriel. I’ll take him so you can finish up.” 

Gabriel nodded his head and carefully lifted the snoozing infant against his shoulder. Neil groaned and starting crying as he was pulled away from his warm, purring blanket (also known as his father) even though Gabe was still holding him. Gabriel tensed up in fear, his stomach twisting into knots as he braced to get shouted at by his now-not-so-distracted father across the table for making his beloved son sob. Clenching his eyes shut for the scolding to come, Gabriel felt Neil taken out of his hands as Ana cooed softly, and then likely chuckling in amusement at his state.

“Awww, is Daddy Gabby too warm and snuggly, Neily?” Ana continued to coo adoringly, gently rocking the infant in her arms to calm him. Neil continued to cry for a short while longer, Gabriel growing more anxious by the second for screwing something up before a bottle was set down on the table by Morrison, the man still clearly on his call as he picked up one tablet and walked to the other side of the room without much fanfare. Ana rolled her eyes at that and plucked the bottle from the table to begin feeding the fussy baby, Neil overly eager to get at the nipple now that food was being offered. “Seriously… Can’t step away from his phone for one minute…” She grumbled bitterly under her breath, making Gabriel purse his lips in silence.

He couldn't remark on Morrison’s habits and such like she could. Gabriel was just an outsider in that regard, feeling like any misstep was a landmine waiting to be set off with the strike commander. Keeping his trap shut would probably make things smoother than not as he got to know Morrison and those around him. 

Instead, he focused on eating his delicious smelling ham and cheese burrito stuffed with fluffy eggs, spices and a sauce he couldn't figure out. Eyeing Neil as they both fed themselves on filling breakfast, Gabriel couldn't help but smile as he chewed. Little guy was going at that nipple like a champ, not meek whatsoever, just like his old man; Gabriel certainly felt proud as all hell of the little guy. He was going to be a strong kid, Gabriel could just see it.

Maybe he should teach him some soccer when he was a bit older? His scrawny little legs should hopefully fill in as he got bigger! 

Especially if he got Gabriel's genetics in that regard.

“If I didn't know any better, I’d say you were having a contest to beat Neil’s ability to chug down milk like water.” Morrison’s voice chimed, making Gabriel's eyes glance over to the blonde as he watched him set down one of his tablets back on the table and take a seat. “I don't think seasoned frat boys can come close to how fast he downs the whole thing.” He laughed, those adorable laugh lines wrinkling his face in a way that had Gabriel’s stomach doing flip flops.

Oh no. He’s cute.

Wait, Gabriel already knew that! 

Also, he was embarrassing himself by stuffing his face with his amazing burrito, and quickly set down the remaining twenty-five percent of his giant breakfast burrito on his plate. His face burning in embarrassment at his barbaric inhaling of his food that he should be savoring slowly as a proper adult. He wasn't at Denny’s at three in the morning, after all. This place employees five star chiefs for Pete’s sake!

“I wasn't competing with Neil.” Gabriel grumbled under his breath.

Morrison just laughed easily at that as he picked up his utensils to continue cutting up his food. “At least I’m not alone when it comes to where Neil picks up his genes. Two dads with big appetites? Figures the kid is gonna love food as much as them.” He smiled before bringing a forkful of his omelette to his mouth and taking a bite. 

Gabriel felt himself sheepishly smile at that remark, remembering the pictures of their date nine plus month ago. “Was I that much of a glutton on our date?” He asked with a small smile, a bit nervous about bringing that topic up, especially when Morrison’s brows shot upwards in surprise in response.

“... You remember now?” Morrison asked skeptically, a bit of… eagerness mixed in from what Gabriel guessed?

Gabriel gave him a small, reassuring smile as he pulled out his phone from his pocket and went straight to his gallery before holding his phone out over the table for Morrison to take. Hesitantly, the strike commander eyed the phone before reaching and gingerly taking it as Gabriel brought his hand back over to pick up his breakfast burrito. Busying himself with the meal out of nervousness, Gabriel ignored the man in front of him as he heard a burp coming from his left. Neil had obviously finished eating before Gabriel did and Ana was gently patting his back against one shoulder as her eyes were focused in Morrison’s direction.

It was such a strange exchange between him and Morrison in the past few moments since he came back to the table. There was no way Ana wasn't noticing how relaxed the strike commander was in harsh comparison to yesterday as well. From their hostile first reunion in almost a year to an oddly amiable tour of the onsite horticulture department, and now bantering with him in a much more relaxed manner.

Did something happen overnight that Gabriel wasn't aware of or was the morning calls going well enough to just natural put the guy in a positive mood?

Not that it wasn't a very nice experience to suddenly appear be in the man’s good graces. A smiling Morrison was so much preferable to one that wanted to tear out his throat for having the audacity to be holding his son.

“Oh. You also took pictures. I completely forgot…” 

Gabriel turned back to look at Morrison as the man was captivated with his phone. He was spending several long moments on each picture as he went through Gabriel's photos of their date, Gabriel watching the strike commander’s expression soften considerably.

He wanted to pry into that response, get Morrison to clarify if he was pleased or something over Gabriel still having pictures from their date. His fingers drummed against the foil wrap of his burrito as he nipped anxiously on his lower lip. With his heartbeat rapidly pounding in his chest, Gabriel knew that he was left wanting the commander's approval. His silly celebrity crush on the greying blonde bubbling up pleasantly in his stomach at the situation.

“Yeah… Found them last night.” Gabriel explained with barely concealed glee before taking another bite from his burrito to occupy himself instead of rudely staring at the Morrison. He quickly found himself without anything more to eat though before taking a slow drink of water before continuing. “Still can’t remember what happened but that’s proof enough that I did enjoy myself.” 

Morrison paused in his thorough viewing of Gabriel's gallery to glance up at him, making the other man’s cheeks warm up even more under scrutiny. Why was Gabriel so jumpy?! The one time the guy isn't disgusted at the very sight of him, he was gushing idiot! 

This was the strike commander of Overwatch he was sharing a table with!! One of the heroes of the Omnic Crisis for fuckssake!

If he wasn't in a highly sophisticated dining lounge and sitting next to two of the most important people in the world he would be dragging his hands down the front of his stupid ass face. He was an embarrassment; plain and simple!

“Do you think we could… I mean, If I have some time open in my schedule later this afternoon, would you object to meeting me?” 

Gabriel blinked at the slightly awkward response, and looked across the table to see Morrison reaching across to hand off Gabriel's phone. He reflexively got up from his seat and took the phone back, his eyes watching Morrison's oddly guarded expression before sitting back down. It quickly shifted one into meek embarrassment as Morrison looked away and brought a hand up to rub at the back of his head.

“I kind of have a lot on my plate and would like to look at them later. The pictures, that is!” Morrison added quickly in clarification even though Gabriel knew what he meant. It was kind of nice to see the man being genuinely considerate and trying to be as transparent as he could with him. 

It helped soothe Gabriel's nerves to hear and see that kind commitment on the strike commander's face and posture. He can totally see how his past self in the photos was so easily swept away by this man from how far he goes to make others feel comfortable. 

Well… Assuming you weren't in the line of fire when he was very stressed out and holding his kid.

…

He really needed to get over that whole thing... Gabriel wouldn't want to be judged like that on a first impression, especially since his reappearance in Morrison's life was a poorly planned surprise. He would kill anyone who tried to mess his baby nephew too so why was he so bothered by a perfectly logical reaction?

“Mr. Reyes…?”

Gabriel mentally kicked himself for that as he tried to give Morrison a smile. “Yeah? I mean- Yes! Yes, I would be happy to meet up later!” He replied sloppily, trying his best to recover and reassure the blonde across the table that he wasn't intentionally dazing out on him. To be honest, even Gabriel wasn't convinced of his own shoddy response, himself. 

“Okay. Glad we got that worked out.” Morrison chuckled in response, clearly amused but more interested in resuming breakfast as he dove back in with gusto. 

Gabriel was a bit iffy about how Morrison let him off the hook so easily but knew better than to further drag out a topic that was effectively over. Raising a hand, he flagged over the waiter to order another burrito before glancing over at Amari to see her reaction. The woman was very quiet as she seemed to contemplate what had just occurred. Hopefully, she was just as confused as he was because, if not, it would just suck being oblivious to who Jack Morrison actually was and if Gabriel was getting played.

Hopefully things would become a bit more clear as they tour the horticulture department later or Gabriel could just flat out ask when he and Morrison have their private chat. For now, he would let the man work and finish his breakfast in peace while eating his own second burrito.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking forever to update! Hope you guys are still interested and around! Please leave a review if you are!

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed the first chapter please leave your thoughts and feedback! Reviews help give me motivation to work on the next chapter!


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